British officialdom is debating whether to outlaw all spanking of children — even by their own parents. “Physical punishment by teachers was outlawed in Britain’s state-run schools in 1986 and in private schools in 1999. … Last year, the government committed itself to banning childminders from spanking children, even when they have permission to do so from the child’s parents.” The final step, now being urged by a highly mobilized lobby of purported child advocates, is to extend the ban to parents themselves. The “campaign has little to do with weighing the merits, or otherwise, of spanking as a form of discipline,” writes Brendan O’Neill, assistant editor of the journal Spiked-Online. “Rather, it is driven by a view of parents, and adults in general, as not being trustworthy enough to care for children.” (“Britain debates: to spank or not to spank “, Christian Science Monitor, Apr. 19).
Author Archive
Terrorism, data-collection, and dot-connecting
Yesterday’s New York Post ran my review of Jeffrey Rosen’s new book The Naked Crowd, on government surveillance, privacy, and the fight against terrorism, a book I wish I could have liked better than I did. (Walter Olson, “Privacy First”, New York Post, Apr. 18). As I explain, my reaction to some passages in the book was to “want to lock Rosen in a room with my Manhattan Institute colleague Heather Mac Donald”. The City Journal piece by Mac Donald being referenced is here.
Sudden acceleration: litigation springs eternal
Fifteen years after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded that the explanation for supposed “sudden acceleration” in cars was that the drivers were mistakenly pressing the accelerator rather than the brake, trial lawyers continue to sue automakers, and now NHTSA has agreed to open an investigation into claims of unintended acceleration in Toyota and Lexus models. While an earlier wave of suits tended to blame cruise control malfunctions, the new favorite culprit is electronic throttle control systems. In lawsuits over the accidents, the car’s brakes, which can ordinarily bring a car to a stop even when its throttle is fully open, will typically be said to have mysteriously failed as the same time as the acceleration defect was manifesting itself, although nothing will be found physically wrong with the brakes afterward.
“For more than a decade, decisions usually favored car companies and blamed drivers in unintended acceleration cases, but some recent trials and court decisions reversed that. Ford Motor and General Motors each recently lost a high-profile case. … A Missouri jury last year ordered GM to pay Constance Peters and her husband $80 million for the crash of her 1993 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which accelerated 120 feet in reverse and into a tree while she was backing up. They blamed faulty cruise control. GM is appealing.” And: “The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York in 2002 reinstated a $1.1 million judgment against Ford in the crash of a 1991 Ford Aerostar. Jurors had found that the crash was caused partly by a ‘negligently designed’ cruise control system.” (Jayne O’Donnell and David Kiley, “Technology puts unintended acceleration back in spotlight”, USA Today/Detroit News, Apr. 13)(via Reason Hit and Run). For more on the issue, see Jun. 6, 2000.
Welcome Australian Broadcasting Corp. listeners
I’ll be a guest on the Radio National Breakfast show, for a discussion of personal responsibility and obesity lawsuits (see various entries in product liability archives). The site’s archive of stories from Australia is here.
Update: Virginia primitive
Tim Hulsey (Apr. 17) has an update on HB 751, the bill that has passed the Virginia legislature (see Mar. 19) which would render void and unenforceable “partnership contracts” and “other arrangements” between persons of the same sex, perhaps extending even to powers of attorney and other conventional legal devices. It seems Democratic Gov. Mark Warner has taken exception to the most objectionable language in the bill, but has not actually vetoed it. Update Apr. 23: legislature enacts original bill into law despite governor’s objections. Yet more: May 12, May 31.
Update: judge cuts Ala. Exxon verdict to $3.6 billion
Big numbers dept.: “Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, persuaded an Alabama state court judge to cut a $11.9 billion verdict to $3.6 billion [last month] in a lawsuit over natural gas royalties.” (“Exxon Verdict Cut to $3.6 Bln in Alabama Gas Suit”, Bloomberg, Mar. 29). See Dec. 1, 2003; Dec. 20, 2000. Lawyers in Texas are organizing a similar suit by public entities there — no-fee, no-win, of course: Patrina A. Bostic, “Entities might sue large oil companies”, Longview News-Journal, Apr. 7.
Update: stripped of her big award
The Georgia Court of Appeals has stripped Vanessa Steele-Inman of her million-dollar jury award against the owners and managers of Atlanta’s Pink Pony nightclub over alleged irregularities in the 1997 Miss Nude World International pageant (see Jul. 26-27, 2000, Mar. 23-25, 2001). (Jonathan Ringel, “Miss Nude Contestant Stripped of Court Victory”, Fulton County Daily Report, Mar. 30).
“Licorice Addict Sues German Confectioner”
Food-overuse suits not solely an American phenomenon: “German candy manufacturer Haribo has been sued by a woman who blames her addiction to licorice and consequent heart problems on the confectioner, according to a Berlin court announcement. The 48-year-old plaintiff from Berlin is asking for ?6,000 ($7,148) in damages from Haribo because she developed heart problems after consuming 400 grams (14 ounces) of the chewy candy every day for four months.” Medical literature has warned that the active compound in licorice, glycyrrhizin, can cause physiological effects when consumed in extremely large quantities. (Deutsche Welle, Apr. 16). See also Nov. 14, 2001. Update Apr. 20: court dismisses suit, saying product was correctly labeled.
Kerry: no to reparations, yes to “environmental justice”
Giving him due credit: “John Kerry yesterday told students at Howard University that he doesn’t support financial reparations for blacks, saying it would only divide the nation and ‘not heal the wounds.’ … His answer received marked applause from the audience in the reading room of the historically black university’s Armour J. Blackburn Center in Northwest.”
On the other hand: the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee “also committed to the creation of a post for an assistant attorney general for environmental justice” and opined “that nearly 25 percent of children in Harlem have asthma partly because ‘all of the trucks’ traveling through New York City are routed through the neighborhood,” a sentiment open to doubt not only because of the high share of trucks that use other routes into and out of the city, but also because truck emissions, like air pollution generally, have sharply declined over the same decades in which urban childhood asthma rates have increased. (Brian DeBose, “Kerry opposes slavery reparations”, Washington Times, Apr. 16).
“Scientology critic ordered to pay church”
“A former member and longtime critic of the Church of Scientology has been ordered by a Marin County judge to pay the church $500,000 for speaking out against the controversial religious movement.” Scientology defector Gerald Armstrong, in a 1986 settlement of earlier litigation with the church, had agreed to “maintain strict confidentiality and silence with respect to his experiences with the Church of Scientology” with a penalty of $50,000 for every offending utterance. “The church maintains that Armstrong has violated the agreement at least 201 times and owes it just over $10 million.” Armstrong’s “lawyer noted that his client had declared bankruptcy to avoid paying past damages won by Scientology, and Armstrong still vows to never pay a penny to the church.” (Don Lattin, San Francisco Chronicle, Apr. 13). See also Mar. 25-26, 2002; May 3, 2000.